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Rapid Re-housing is short-term financial assistance and services such as case management, outreach, and housing search for individuals and families who are in emergency shelter or on the streets and need temporary assistance in order to obtain and retain housing. Rapid Re-housing does not meet the needs of every person experiencing homelessness, but is an important option for many.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act’s Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing (HPRP) Program provided allowed providers in Connecticut to greatly expand Rapid Re-housing services in 2010. Under HPRP, and in three years, CT providers re-housed 3,100 people in over 1,600 households. In 2013, we can look back on this data to consider the questions: Were these resources well spent? Did those people return to shelter?

Rapid Re-housing Works in Connecticut.

Since Connecticut clients received Rapid Re-housing services through HPRP, only a small number have returned to shelter. These results are consistent with Rapid Re-housing outcomes across the nation.[2] Rapid Re-housing appears to be especially successful for families with children in Connecticut.

Three years after receiving Rapid Re-housing, eighty-two percent (82%) of singles have not returned to a Connecticut shelter. For families, the result is 95%.

At the two year post-exit mark, almost 90% of singles and 94% of families had not returned to shelter.

The graph below illustrates the percent of singles and persons in families that returned to shelter after exiting from Rapid Re-housing services in 2010, 2011, and 2012. [3]

How Many CT Rapid Re-housing Recipients Did Not Return to Shelter After Exiting the Program? [4]

4 Results show returns to shelter after varying lengths of time “at risk” for return. Those exiting in 2012 were measured at 9 months post-exit while those exiting in 2010 were measured some 3 years post-exit. This means that it is possible to compare Family/Individual returns within but not across exit cohort years.